“One week we were playing Pooties Roadhouse down the street from our place [in Texas] to eight local drunks, which is our favorite crowd, to opening for Tim [McGraw] and Faith [Hill] for 20,000 people,” Duddy told CMT’s Hot 20 Countdown.

“For us,” Wystrach added, “growing up with somebody like Willie Nelson who’s had such a profound effect on our sound and inspired us as musicians, to get to share a bill with Willie … already it seems surreal just even talking about it.”

Then there are Duddy and Wystrach’s colorful side gigs. Duddy is nominated in the best direction category at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (airing Aug. 27) for his work on Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic.” He also directed Mars’ famous “Uptown Funk” video, as well as the video for Britney Spears’ Iggy Azalea collaboration, “Pretty Girls.”

And if followers do an online search of, “Mark Wystrach” and “underwear,” results will likely show Wystrach at work at his former job as a professional model.

“Beats the hell out of working construction or bartending,” Wystrach joked.

Midland’s 13-song debut On the Rocks arrives Sept. 22. All of the material was written or co-written by Carson, Duddy and Wystrach. Track eight, “Check Cashin’ Country” is a solo composition by Carson and is described as the band’s “true-life road diary.”